A court considering whether a restrictive covenant in an employment contract is reasonable, can sever words which render it too broad ‘if the severed parts are independent from one another and can be severed without the severance affecting the meaning of the part remaining’ and/or where the covenant is not really a single covenant but … Continue reading Attwood v Lamont: CA 2 Jan 1920
1267 – 1278 – 1285 – 1297 – 1361 – 1449 – 1491 – 1533 – 1677 – 1688 – 1689 – 1700 – 1706 – 1710 – 1730 – 1737 – 1738 – 1751 – 1774 – 1792 – 1793 – 1804 – 1814 – 1819 – 1824 – 1828 – 1831 – 1832 … Continue reading Acts
Any factor which might affect the interests of either the landlord or tenant should be considered by the judge when assessing the reasonableness of ordering possession. In this case the court could allow for financial hardship arising from ill health of the parties Citations: [1924] 2 KB 173, [1924] All ER Rep 623, [1924] 93 … Continue reading Williamson v Pallant: KBD 1924
The court held that trivial services, the amount of which could be measured, did not amount to ‘attendance’ within the meaning of section 12(2)(i) of the 1920 Act. The rule had to be applied with robust vigour in favour of the tenant unless the protective object of the Act was to be substantially defeated. Judges: … Continue reading Wood v Carwardine: 2 Jan 1923
The landlord had wanted possession. The tenant said that the landlord had been harassing him. The landlord said that the tenancy was a mixed residential and business tenancy and that the 1977 Act did not apply. Held: The 1977 Act applied. A tenancy for mixed purposes falls under the protection of the Act of 1954, … Continue reading Pirabakaran v Patel and Another: CA 26 May 2006
Land next to the canal was used for the deposit of refuse by trespassers. The mound spread until, for a fee, it was dumped also across the canal. It caught fire, and the fire spread toward the canal. By agreement the parties got together to put out the fire, and now sought to allocate the … Continue reading Job Edwards Ltd v Birmingham Navigations Proprietors: CA 1924
The claimant appealed against refusal of an order restraining publication by the respondent of an article about her. She said that it was based upon an email falsely attributed to her. Held: ‘in an action for defamation a court will not impose a prior restraint on publication unless it is clear that no defence will … Continue reading Greene v Associated Newspapers Ltd: CA 5 Nov 2004
The property had been let for twenty five years with a shop on the ground floor with living accomodation above. There had been no formal tenancy agreement, and no explicit user stipulation. The tenant claimed the protection of the 1920 Act. Held: The effect of section 12(2)(ii) appeared ‘to affirm in statutory form what the … Continue reading Hicks v Snook: CA 1928
An unconditional order for possession was made against a statutory tenant under the Rent Acts, and execution of the order was then suspended by the court from time to time pursuant to powers contained in s 5(2). The court distinguished between an absolute but suspended possession order and a conditional order. Judges: Somervell LJ Citations: … Continue reading American Economic Laundry Ltd v Little: CA 1950
The Court found the probationer police constable to have been unlawfully induced to resign, but the court could not order his reinstatement. A power must be exercised by the precise person or body stated in the statute. Though courts may review the way in which decisions are reached, they will respect the margin of appreciation … Continue reading Chief Constable of the North Wales Police v Evans: HL 1982
The County Court had held that the landlords were not entitled to recover possession of a flat of which the defendant was tenant because the premises had not been taken out of the protection of the Rent Restrictions Act by the tenant twice sub-letting furnished the whole of the premises with the landlord’s permission for … Continue reading Lesley and Company v Cumming: KBD 1926
The plaintiff had lived with a woman tenant for over 20 years and they had been regarded in the neighbourhood as man and wife. Held: He could not thereby be deemed a member of her family for the Act of 1920. If their relationship was sexual ‘it seems to me anomalous that a person can … Continue reading Gammans v Ekins: CA 1950
The landlord claimed possession of a dwelling house let on a weekly tenancy, saying the tenant had been convicted of using the premises for an unlawful purpose. The tenant had been convicted of handling stolen goods by receiving them at the premises. He submitted that the section should be interpreted as applying only to convictions … Continue reading Schneiders and Sons Ltd v Abrahams: 1925
By a tenancy agreement, the landlord of a dwelling house let to the tenant, on a weekly tenancy, four unfurnished rooms on the first floor of the house together with the use in common with the landlord of the back bedroom on the first floor and the use, in common with the landlord and others … Continue reading Goodrich v Paisner: HL 1956
The company appealed from rejection of its contention that its former employee should be restrained from employment by a competitor under a clause in her former employment contract. The court particularly considered the severability of a section requiring the former employee to take no interest in a competing company. Held: The court should set aside … Continue reading Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd: SC 3 Jul 2019
The claimant sought to enforce a restrictive covenant against the defendant a former assistant solicitor as to non-competition within a certain distance of the practice for a period of three years. After leaving she had sought to set up partnership with others to practice in competition. During the period of her notice she worked also … Continue reading Allan Janes Llp v Johal: ChD 23 Feb 2006
A house was let on 28th August 1916 for a period of one month at the standard rent within the meaning of the Rent Restriction Acts, and the tenancy was thereafter from time to time renewed by tacit relocation. On 27th July 1920 and subsequent dates the landlord served on the tenant the statutory notice … Continue reading Kerr v Bryde: HL 3 Nov 1922
The claimants objected to orders made freezing their assets under the 2006 Order, after being included in the Consolidated List of suspected members of terrorist organisations. Held: The orders could not stand. Such orders were made by the executive without parliamentary scrutiny by the use of Orders in Council. Statutory provision for counter-terrorism was in … Continue reading HM Treasury v Ahmed and Others: SC 27 Jan 2010
A public house was to be valued for rating under the 1869 Act. The question was whether the 1920 regulations, which limited the rent which could be charged, limited also the rating value. Held: The statutory hypothesis used in setting a rateable value of a hereditament is the means of establishing the value of the … Continue reading Poplar Assessment Committee v Roberts: HL 1922
Charitable Company is Trustee of Assets The court was asked as to the distribution of surplus assets of a charitable company which was in winding up, and the question whether or not s 257 et seq. Companies Act 1948 applied, including s 265 which made provision for the distribution of surplus assets to members. Held: … Continue reading Liverpool and District Hospital for Diseases of the Heart v Attorney-General: ChD 1981
The applicant’s property was charged to the defendant. At the time it was not occupied. The mortgage fell into arrears, and after serving notice at the property, the bank took posssession and sold the property at auction. The claimants said the bank should have taken possession only after court proceedings. Held: A lender taking possession … Continue reading Ropaigealach v Barclays Bank plc: CA 6 Jan 1999
The creditor was a tenant of rent-controlled premises who had been charged too much rent by his landlord. The bankrupt landlord’s trustee argued that the claim in respect of overpaid rent had been converted into a right to prove the debt in the bankruptcy, and that therefore any other method of recovery was barred. Held: … Continue reading Bradley-Hole v Cusen: CA 1953
The plaintiffs stayed at weekends at a cottage let for a fixed term of one year. The contractual term ended on 25 March 1921 and was not renewed. On 7 April, in the absence of the plaintiffs, the defendant sent the local blacksmith to the cottage, . .
The court was asked whether the plaintiff, a tenant of rooms to which (once enacted) the Act of 1920 applied and who had been excluded from possession by the landlord’s re-entry on the day that the Act came into force following service of a notice . .
The landlord, served a notice to quit, and obtained entry to the property without force and removed the doors and windows so that it could no longer be used as a dwelling. The plaintiff brought an action for trespass.
Held: After referring to . .
298 blocks of flats had been requisitioned to provide accommodation for persons evacuated from Gibraltar during the war. The evacuees occupied the various flats as licensees. They were given only one week’s notice terminating their licences.
